JoAnne Prince, 20-year GM worker, installs shocks and brake lines on a 2015 Chevy Traverse at the Lansing Delta Township plant. GM will spend $520 million for tooling and equipment for future new vehicle programs, retaining 1,900 jobs.
In the run-up to the expiration of the UAW contract this August, General Motors announced today that it will invest $5.4 billion in GM plants for improvements during the next three years, but only included details of $783.5 million in spending for three Michigan facilities.
Since June 2009, GM has announced U.S. facility spending of ~$16.8 billion. About $11.4 billion of that has come since the 2011 UAW-GM National Agreement that is up for renewal, with two-tier wages a major potential point of contention. In total, GM said these investments have created 3,650 new jobs and in the dreary language of the shrinking number of UAW represented workers “secured the positions of approximately 20,700 others.”
At the Pontiac Metal Center where the announcement was made GM North America President Alan Batey said $124 million will be invested. There is also $520 million for tooling and equipment for future new vehicle programs at the Lansing Delta Township assembly plant, retaining 1,900 jobs, and $139.5 million for a new body shop and stamping facility upgrades at Pre-Production Operations in Warren.
GM will announce the remaining $4.6 billion and identify plants involved over the next several months.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
